A Twist on Pumpkin Spice

A guide to all things pumpkin in Winnipeg

In 2003, a team of flavour experts assembled in the Starbucks liquid lab to create the now infamous pumpkin spice latte. It wasn’t long before more companies hopped on board, and now consumers can enjoy the flavor of pumpkin in multiple incarnations.

“The pumpkin-flavoured everything trend is drawing people to the taste of it more. I’ve noticed the interest going up quite a bit,” Melody Schwabe of Schwabe Pumpkins says.

In 2009, when she married into the Schwabe family and began working with them, most people were buying pumpkins purely for decoration.

In recent years, she finds that this has been shifting – and not just among her customers. Local eateries are offering up pumpkin in all sorts of ways.

Across from the Assiniboine Park footbridge, Joe Black Coffee Bar offers customers lattes with real pumpkin and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg on top.

Though the drink is a hot seller this time of year, they also make a caramel cappuccino and apple cider for the season.

“Try it with a shot of salty caramel apple-flavored vodka for an extra shot of warmth,” Gina Gerbasi, owner of Joe Black, says.

The Amsterdam Tea Room in Winnipeg’s Exchange District is offering a pumpkin and spice tea. The leaves - a blend of black tea and rooibos - create a hot drink that has all the spicy tastes of fall with the smooth delivery of a pumpkin pie.

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